Campaign Finance

CA Common Cause also advocated strongly for the bill. “Every voter has a right to know who is trying to influence our votes and our Legislature,” said Nicolas Heidorn, the group’s legislative affairs director, in a statement. “While Congress and federal agencies fail to act to require more transparency in the post-Citizens United era, the Disclose Act will continue California’s leadership in building a strong and transparent democracy.”

Kathy Feng, executive director of California Common Cause, an ethics watchdog group, said employee donors are worrisome. "There's been a long history of coercion of employees to take political positions or make donations at the direction of their employers," Feng said. "There is a power relationship. A staff person might feel compelled to donate regardless of how they might feel personally about a candidate or a campaign."

A typical political ad for a ballot measure in California might include something like this: "Paid for by Yes on Proposition 99 — Good Jobs and Safe Streets, with major funding by People for Good Jobs and Safe Streets." This meets the legal requirement of disclosure under current rules, but it doesn't give voters any help at all identifying the real people, organizations and industries propping up this fictional initiative. In fact, it may even be misleading. And in this post-Citizens United world, where campaign spending has soared, clear disclosure of who is funding measures and candidates is more important than ever.

“This is the most important campaign-finance law before the Legislature this year,” Nicolas Heidorn of the citizens’ watchdog group California Common Cause said. “When you know who the messenger is you can more effectively evaluate the message. By removing the veil of anonymity, we force groups to put their brand next to their words, which will help nudge our politics slowly towards the ideals of an open legislature. This is a ‘We the People’ issue.”

Kathay Feng, executive director for California Common Cause, criticized the practice of taking money from city contractors and called it unusual for fund-raising to happen in a small city so far removed from an election.

Many election laws and campaign practices are shaped at the local level, including how people vote for their city officials and the campaign contribution limits for those offices. California Common Cause recently completed a major study of these practices for all 482 cities in California.